Cereal Crunch

7 cups Golden Grahams
8 cups Rice Chex
3 cups flake coconut
1 cup chopped or slivered almonds

Stir all together.

Sauce
1 cup white Karo
1 cup sugar
1 square butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Boil sauce for 5 minutes and pour over cereal mixture. Stir until evenly coated then spread on wax paper to cool.

Chocolate-dipped Coconut Macaroons

These are light and airy-but still have plenty of coconut yumminess!

Chocolate-dipped Coconut Macaroons
Ingredients:

2 egg whites
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
parchment paper
Semi-sweet chocolate pieces
crisco

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 and line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Trust me - you want to have parchment paper on there or you may not get your cookies off!

1. Whip egg whites on high speed until good and foamy.
2. SLOWLY add the sugar while continuing to whip at high speed. The end result will be a stiff-peak consistency and glossy. Add vanilla.
3. Gently fold in coconut with a spatula until thoroughly incorporated.
4. Drop by mounded teaspoon (note - these will rise slightly while baking... you CAN make them bigger, but you will need to adjust your baking time and be careful not to burn...) onto parchment-lined pans with an inch or two space between.
5. Bake for 20min at 325 on the middle rack(you may want to check at 15min if your oven runs hot...). Allow to cool a few minutes before removing to rack to cool completely. NOTE - if you eat one right away, you may notice it is still a bit gooey inside. No worries! It continues to cook while cooling and will be just fine!


Dipping:
Place chocolate pieces in a microwaveable dish with short-ish sides (you will need to get your hand in there to dip the cookies!) and microwave 30 min intervals, stirring inbetween, until melted. I add a teaspoon or two of crisco to make the chocolate thinner for dipping.
When completely cooled, dip bottoms of macaroons in chocolate and set on parchment to cool.

Fudge Puddles

I got this recipe (and picture) from here. I made them the other day to give to some neighbors and they turned out great!

For the "crust" of the cookie:

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

In a large mixer bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, and both sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Next, in a seperate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mix. to the creamy mixture.

Chill in the fridge for at least one hour (or if you're impatient like me, in the freezer for about 15 minutes). Remove from fridge and form into 1" balls. I use a small melon baller scoop to make mine a uniform size. Grease a mini-muffin pan and add 1 ball to each muffin cup.

Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and make an indentation in the center of each ball.

Let them cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack. Once all of the cookies are done baking, it's time to make the fudge filling.

Filling:

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. butterscotch chips (if you don't like butterscotch, just use milk chocolate chips)

1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 t. vanillachopped nuts or sprinkles(optional)

In a microwave safe bowl or saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the nuts/sprinkles. Microwave for 1 minutes. Stir well. If there are still unmelted chips, continue to melt in microwave for 15 second increments until all smooth.

Immediately start filling the cookie cups with the filling. It will start to harden just a bit as you do it, so make sure to give it a good stir once in awhile. Sprinkle with the nuts or just leave plain. Let set for an hour or so.

Stephanie

PEPPERMINT FUDGE

[ fudge layer ]

3 tsp. butter, softened (yes tsp. ... not Tbsp.)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
6 Tbsp. baking cocoa
1 tsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

[ peppermint layer ]

2 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. milk
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/4 c. crushed peppermint candy (about 10-12 candies)

Line the bottom and sides of a square baking dish with foil. Grease foil with butter; set aside. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, cocoa, milk and vanilla. Spread into prepared pan. Chill for an hour until firm. For peppermint layer, beat cream cheese in a small mixing bowl. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, milk and extract. Stir in peppermint candy. Spread evenly over chocolate layer. Chill for an hour or until firm. Using foil, lift fudge from pan. Gently peel off foil and cut into squares.

Notes: A double batch fits well in a 9” x 13” pan and makes about 7-8 dozen little squares of fudge. Also, to crush the peppermint candies, I place them in a thick zip lock bag and use a rubber mallet (soft hammer). This is where my kids like to help!

*Added comment: I recommend storing your fudge in the refrigerator. It's probably fine at room temperature (I think?), but that's just my personal preference. I think it tastes better chilled.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Crunch

YOU WILL NEED:
*
2 Cups chocolate chips (divided)
2 cubes plus 1 T. unsalted butter (divided)
one 16 oz. jar creamy peanut butter (divided)
3 Cups crispy rice cereal
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Cups powdered sugar
*
DIRECTIONS:
*
1. Spray 8 inch square pan. In saucepan melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 T. butter on low heat; Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup peanut butter, then add 2 cups rice cereal. Spread the mixture in pan and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Wash out pan.
*
2. In the saucepan, combine 2 cubes butter and salt and melt over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in remaining peanut butter and the powdered sugar. ( I used my hand mixture to stir) Spread 1/2 of this peanut butter mixture over the cereal layer. Top with 1 Cup rice cereal.
*
3. In a small bowl melt 1 cup chocolate chips in microwave for 1 minute. Stir melted choc. into the remaining peanut butter mixture. ( I used my hand mixture ) Spread evenly on the cereal topped peanut butter layer and refrigerate until set. Cut and enjoy!
(you can use any cereal you like or even dried fruit or nuts)

Stephanie

Speedy Cinnamon & Sugar Twists

These breadsticks are really delicious & simple to make, since you use prepared frozen bread dough. Drizzle them with a vanilla glaze, out of the oven. They remind me of the yummy breadsticks you get at restaurants.
*
YOU WILL NEED:
*
1 loaf frozen bread dough
1/2 cup brown or white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted
*
VANILLA GLAZE:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Cream above ingredients together. Drizzle over breadsticks, or use as a dip.
*
DIRECTIONS:
Thaw frozen bread dough for about 3 hours. Mix sugar with cinnamon. Cut loaf lengthwise into 4 strips. Cut strips horizontally in thirds, making 12 strips. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Roll each piece of dough in butter, then in sugar cinnamon mixture. Stretch and twist. Place on greased baking sheet and let raise 1 hour; bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned; sprinkle with additional cinnamon & sugar. Enjoy!

Stephanie